Howard University School of Law announces the establishment of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center

New Center will build on Marshall’s legacy

The Howard University Board of Trustees recently approved the establishment of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at Howard University School of Law (“Civil Rights Center”). The Civil Rights Center will celebrate and extend the legacy of Howard University School of Law as the epicenter for civil rights litigation and policy work since the early 20th century. Howard University School of Law is world renowned for its reputation as the law school that birthed the legal strategy behind Brown v. Board of Education.

The Civil Rights Center will be dedicated to community-based litigation, policy work, and advocacy and will build on the work of the law school’s existing Civil Rights Clinic. The Center will also put on world class academic conferences and establish an online platform that will become a repository for cutting-edge legal scholarship in the field of civil and human rights.

“This is a historic moment for our law school and the University, and one that was many years in the making,” said Dean Danielle Holley-Walker. “Howard University will build on Thurgood Marshall’s legacy by devoting this Center to promoting criminal justice reform, voting rights, fair housing, and just immigration policies,” she said. “The Civil Rights Center will reinforce the law school’s core mission to pursue social justice for the most marginalized and vulnerable communities in the United States and around the world.”

The law school will host a formal grand opening of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center in the fall of 2017.